Don Melnick of CERC applied DNA analysis to
Borneo elephants and learned that they are genetically distinct
from other Asian elephants. Image Credit: Melvin Gumal/WCS

Scientists from Columbia University settle a
long-standing dispute about the genesis of an endangered species.
With scant fossil evidence supporting a prehistoric presence, scientists
could not say for sure where Borneo’s elephants came from.
Did they descend from ancient prototypes of the Pleistocene era
or from modern relatives introduced just 300–500 years ago?
That question, as Fernando et al. report in an article appearing
in the inaugural issue of PLoS Biology (and currently available
online at http://biology.plosjournals.org),
is no longer subject to debate.

Applying DNA analysis and dating techniques
to investigate the elephants’ evolutionary path, researchers
from the United States, India, and Malaysia, led by Don Melnick
of the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation at Columbia,
demonstrate that Borneo’s elephants are not recent arrivals.
They are genetically distinct from other Asian elephants and may
have parted ways with their closest Asian cousins when Borneo separated
from the mainland, effectively isolating the Borneo elephants some
300,000 years ago.

In the 1950s, Borneo elephants had been classified
as a subspecies of Asian elephants (either Indian or Sumatran)
based on anatomical differences, such as smaller skull size and
tusk variations. This classification was later changed, partly
because of the popular view that these animals had descended from
imported domesticated elephants. Until now, there was no solid
evidence to refute this belief and no reason to prioritize the
conservation of Borneo elephants.

Their new status, as revealed by this study,
has profound implications for the fate of Borneo’s largest
mammals. Wild Asian elephant populations are disappearing as expanding
human development disrupts their migration routes, depletes their
food sources, and destroys their habitat. Recognizing these elephants
as native to Borneo makes their conservation a high priority and
gives biologists important clues about how to manage them.

Recognizing these elephants as native to
Borneo makes their conservation a high priority and gives biologists
important clues about how to manage them. Image Credit: Melvin
Gumal/WCS

The Center for Environmental Research and Conservation
(CERC), a member of The Earth Institute at Columbia University,
is a consortium of five leading New York City science and education
institutions - Columbia University, the American Museum of Natural
History, The New York Botanical Garden, Wildlife Conservation Society
and Wildlife Trust - which trains the next generation of environmental
leaders to address the challenges of conserving the Earth's biological
diversity.

The Earth Institute at Columbia University
is the world's leading academic center for the integrated study
of Earth, its environment, and society. The Earth Institute builds
upon excellence in the core disciplines -- earth sciences, biological
sciences, engineering sciences, social sciences and health sciences
-- and stresses cross-disciplinary approaches to complex problems.
Through its research, training and global
partnerships, it mobilizes
science and technology to advance sustainable development, while
placing special emphasis on the needs of the world's poor.

The paper “DNA analysis indicates that
Asian elephants are native to Borneo and are therefore a high priority
for conservation” was published online as a sneak preview
to PLoS Biology, the first open-access journal from the Public
Library of Science (PLoS). It is part of the inaugural issue of
the new journal, which will appear online and in print in October
2003. PLoS is a non-profit organization of scientists and physicians
committed to making the world's scientific and medical literature
a freely available public resource (http://www.plos.org).